Apple declined my purchase of an iPhone so why can’t I pay for a phone from the Apple store with my PayPal account

Apple Store online does accept PayPal.

PayPal

When you place an order with PayPal you will be redirected to the PayPal website. There you will then need to login with your PayPal username and password. If your order consists of multiple deliveries, your PayPal account will be charged separately for each shipment.

Payment, Financing, Refunds and VAT - Shopping Help - Apple

If you attempted to use your PayPal account for a purchase and it was declined, you’ll need to contact the PayPal support team.

Sorry I couldn’t help more. I hope you can get things with PayPal worked out. I have a PayPal personal and business account and the same with Venmo. They can be a pain to deal with .

Great news, glad you got it worked out!😀😀